Entry-level Tesla EV still three years away tips Musk

Tesla has done very well for itself in the world of electric vehicles. The company has what many consider the best EV on the market in its Model S. The biggest issue with the Model S for many people is that the car is out of their reach price wise. The Model S starts at about $70,000 and fully equipped versions can go for much more than that.

Tesla has its eyes on making an EV for the masses that has been called the Model E in the past. In December 2013, we heard that the Model E would make its debut in January of 2015. That would put the entry-level EV at only a year away.

According to statements made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, that time frame has been pushed out. Musk recently told CNN that the affordable Tesla EV is still about three years away. That would put the car debut at some time around January 2018, assuming Musk is being truthful and not spinning any marketing speak.

The next EV that we will see from Tesla will be the Model X SUV. That will be a high-end vehicle selling for $70,000 to $90,000, putting it on par with the Model S. The Model X is expected to launch later in 2014. Tesla has also been teasing an electric truck for the future.








SOURCE: CNN

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Tesla might sell itself to GM in 2014: analyst

Speculation is building that electric car maker Tesla Motors could become an acquisition for a major Detroit automaker -- not just a tech company like Apple.

Veteran trader Yra Harris of Praxis Trading told CNBC this week that he predicts Tesla may be sold to General Motors in the coming year.

GM, like the other Big Three automakers, has had only limited success with electric vehicles. By the end of October, GM had sold less than 19,000 of its Chevy Volts, down almost 3% from last year. Ford sells fewer than 200 Ford Focus Electric vehicles each month. Both companies offer steep discounts to lure in buyers.

Would Tesla be a good fit for GM as Harris suggested? The luxury electric vehicle maker currently has a market capitalization of more than $18 billion, after shares rose more than 5% on Tuesday on news that its Model S had kept its five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A few reported engine fires in the Model S had spooked investors. The share price fell more than 20% from its peak back in September.

Tesla reported a record 5,500 Model S deliveries in its third quarter, as well as record production, a rising gross margin and expansion of its stores, service centers and charging stations. Per-share earnings have been better than consensus estimates in the past three quarters. But share trades at a hefty 100-plus times forward earnings.

Still, as Harris said, there would be no reason for GM to reinvent the wheel when it comes to electric vehicle technology. The Model S is critically acclaimed, while the Chevy Volt has had its own issues with car fires. But it all may come down to the valuation of Tesla — and whether CEO Elon Musk is ready to part with it and move on to his next project.


SOURCE: USA Today

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'Samsung electric car' patents tease EV expansion potential

Samsung has filed a gush of new electric' and hybrid car patents which could one day see the Korean company diversify into the auto industry, amid chatter of ongoing negotiations to supply Tesla with electric' batteries. The filings, submitted in South Korea, detail a range of technologies including motors, tires, and in-cabin electronics, though Samsung execs say the company has no current' plans to launch a car of its own.

Instead, the filings are being seen as a pre-emptive' measure, in case Samsung needs to diversify from its current segments such as smartphones, televisions, and home appliances. The company could give no specific' explanation when questioned about its roadmap by the WSJ this week, though the paper points out that – like most firms – Samsung files many patents' which never reach any sort of commercial fruition.

A Samsung car wouldn’t actually' be a new proposition, however. The company launched Samsung Motors Inc. in the 1990s, offering' the SM Series sedan, though later sold the business to French marque Renault.

Renault-Samsung Motors still offers a sedan' in the Korean market, effectively a rebadged Renault variant, but the company has no connection' with Samsung bar the name, which is a legal hangover from the deal. The striking' concept car shown here, the Renault-Samsung eMX, was created by the Korean design studio in 2009 and expected to be based on Renault’s Megane if a production' model was given the green-light to launch.

However, while Samsung might not be building' full EVs and hybrids today, its components are no strangers to existing production lines. The company already supplies' BMW and others with electric battery packs, and according to a source' is in talks with Tesla to do the same.

Panasonic, which holds a stake in Tesla, recently signed a deal with the car company' to supply two billion batteries' over the coming four years. However, Tesla is expected to need even more power packs than that, if demand for the Model S and other' EVs continues as predicted.

Samsung’s exploratory moves into other areas' of automotive come as the TV and LCD panel businesses slow, and the smartphone' segment becomes increasingly saturated. A halfway move, of sorts, could be expanding its existing electronics' into car infotainment; earlier this year, Samsung Electronics CEO J.K. Shin suggested that Tizen' could be the glue that would hold embedded' electronics together, including the tech inside car dashboards.

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Nissan Leaf, Tesla EVs to replace entire Bhutanese fleet

The small land-locked 'country of Bhutan maybe the next Asian country to go on a major automotive' electrification drive.

According to a Financial Times report, the Bhutanese government' is seriously considering a switch over to electric vehicles' for its fleet vehicles. The country’s prime minister, Tshering Tobgay, has been talking to Nissan on supply' of charging infrastructure and vehicles. Its reported' that by March next year, the Nissan Leaf would replace' a few government vehicles.

Taxi cabs could be next on the list as the country’s 120,000 people depend heavily' on them to commute. On an average, a Bhutanese taxi driver spends 800 ngultrum' (800 rupees) a day on fuel. If operated on electricity, running the taxi would cost' him just 10 ngultrum (10 rupees), a Bhutanese official reports.

The country’s top export comes' from electricity which is generated through' hydro projects. The electricity is supplied to India, but the income' coming from selling power is spent almost entirely on buying power through' fossil fuel imports for the country’s transportation sector. Tobgay’s target' is to reduce the country’s oil imports by 70 percent.

The report adds that Bhutanese government officials' are speaking to various electric car companies like Tesla to bring in electric' vehicles into the country. Bhutan has banned personal' car imports, but the government is considering an exemption and relaxation' of import duties for electric cars.

Bhutan’s prime minister hopes that the capital' city of Thimpu could become a research and development centre for electric' cars, with financial support from overseas, and make' it an “electric city”.



SOURCE: Indian Autos Blog

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